The Games Continue......

It has been a very interesting week in boat buying.  I am now into my third and last offer, so today I should hear something.  It has been a little comical as the seller was acting like he didn't really want to sell, saying that he was going to take the boat for a couple of months, if he couldn't get his higher price.  To me, there are several other boats out there, so I was ready to move on to the next.  So we upped the offer $5000, and all of a sudden he was more interested in selling.  Always fun and games in buying boats!  One of the reasons that this guy locked onto a higher price was that somewhere in the world a similar boat sold for the higher price, so both of the two owner's version of Leopards that are at the same Moorings company think that they are worth the higher price.  The higher price is too much over my budget, so either they will come down to my last offer, or I find another boat. 
The other boat that I am looking at is a Lagoon 3800 Owners version in BVI.  It has a few more hours on the engines and it is a 2007 instead of a 2008.  The price is almost $30,000 lower and includes a dinghy and motor, so it may be a good second option.  The Lagoon 3800s can have some hobbyhorse motion, so that is the only negative about those boats.  They are the most popular cruising boats with over 700 of them floating around.  So I believe it would make a good option, if the Leopard falls through.

On the home front things are hectic!  I have a couple more weeks worth of remodeling work on the house that we are living in.  We will either sell it or rent it before we leave.  I am also selling my Mastercraft ski boat and one of our trucks.  So life is a little crazy right now!  Also, retiring from work in 5 weeks, the clock is ticking.  There are many details, such as 401K rollovers, insurance, and legal concerns like wills and retirement documents.  It seems that the list goes on!  It's a good thing that I will have a couple of months after retirement to finalize these things before we head to the boat.  To add to this, the purchase of the boat takes time too!  I may be heading to Belize next week, if my offer is accepted.  Wow, things are a little out of control!!!

Offer Made!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I have been working with Gary Fretz in Fort Lauderdale in trying to locate and assist in purchasing a catamaran.  He has been extremely helpful, with many years in the industry and many contacts.  He started the Moorings Brokerage in BVI back 20 years ago, and knows the end and outs of this business.  We focused on two models of boats, Robertson and Caine Leopard 40' and a Lagoon 410/3800.  I had noticed a 2008 Leopard 40' in charter in Belize that was coming out of contact in July and it looked very nice.  It was an owner's version (rare for Charter companies), and had extremely low engine hours (+-1700).  So today I made an offer on it!!!!!!  So the wait begins!!!!

2008 Robertson and Caine Leopard 40

 

Retirement???? Sabbatical?????

Well today I turned in my retirement from Walmart!  My last day will be June 28th.  This seems strange to me, as I have been working at Walmart for most of my adult life.  This year would be my 29th year in December, but it looks like it will be 28 years and 6 months.  I get to walk away with a lifetime discount card and my 401K account...and a huge amount of memories and friends over the years.  I have visited over 12 countries and lived in Costa Rica for two years as an expat, while working for Walmart.  I have friends in many countries, and I hope that I can meet them as I cruise around the Caribbean!  Walmart has been a good company to work for, even though they didn't approve my 12 month LOA :(.  The Low Cost Everyday mentality has been ingrained in me for many years, so it will help me in my cruising life too!  I am sure that the next 6 weeks will go by fast, as I have many things to do to prepare to leave work. 

The Verdict, Decsions, and Options

Well it has been an action packed couple of weeks.  I was on vacation last week laying tile in the house that we are currently living in.  Something about being on vacation and laying tile that doesn't seem to compute, but that is what happened!  It was a hard week of manual labor, but it looked excellent when finished.  On Monday of that week, the VP over HR of our division called me and explained that Walmart could not approve my 12 month leave of absence, but could approve a 3 month one.  I explained to her that 3 months would not help me too much.  So I was sad about the fact that I will now have to leave Walmart permanently.  So it was a good thing that I had a lot of busy work to do to keep my mind off this new development.  To top this off, my oldest son, Dustin, decided to go in with one of his buddies and start a delivery sandwich shop in Ft. Smith Arkansas.  This was a complete surprise to me, as he had been on board with sailing with me for the last 6 months.  I drove down and visited the restaurant and it was very nice.  I am happy that he has found something that he is excited about, but sad that he will probably not go sailing with me.





 

Ustin's Sandwich Delivery Shop
Ft. Smith, Arkansas

To get bad news from Walmart and Dustin on two consecutive days was really a let down.  Now what do I do about cruising, do I give up the dream, and just go back to work?  Well, I was discussing this with my mom, and she said that she would love to go with me!  She is selling her RV and other things and the timing would be perfect for her to go cruising!  This will also allow Dustin to catch up with us if his restaurant doesn't fly. 

So I am back on track, and hunting for boats!  Since I am leaving Walmart, I realised that I now have more time to cruise, since I am not limited by the 12 month LOA.  I also have access to some of my original Walmart profit sharing, so my boat budget can grow a little.

So it was an exciting week, and I finished the tile work, and made it to the lake cabin for a couple of days of recuperation.

 

 

 

Fishing Beaver Lake with Pepper

 

And the wait continues..............

A quick update on my status!  My LOA request was denied for the second time last week.  This time it had gone to our SrVP level within ISD.  I believe my SrVP supported it, as well as my manager and our VP, so I was surprised that it was denied again.  Let me state that Walmart is a great company, and part of our culture is that if you don't feel that something is right, you can meet with our senior management and have them review your request.  This is called the 'Open Door Policy'.  In the 28+ years that I have been at Walmart, I have never done this before.  So last week, I asked and received a meeting with the highest HR person at Walmart!  I was really surprised, as I called up her assistant, and I was able to get an appointment the same day!  Well, the meeting went very well, and she said that she would get back with me quickly.  I assumed this meant the next week, so I am again waiting for my last appeal.  My only concern is that Walmart is a retail company, not a technology company.  The policies of many mature technology companies have policies that allow up to 12 month sabbaticals, but Walmart may not allow it.  So I hope that my company sees that this is a good thing, and will approve my LOA. 

On a side note, when I was told that my LOA was denied for the second time, the realization that I most likely would be leaving the company that I have worked at for most of my career, I was very sad.  I have many friends still working at Walmart, and I know that if I needed anything, they would be there for me.  This is the Walmart way.  I actually can't imaging not working for Walmart, so this may be a realization that I have to face if I want to cruise.  I guess these are the sacrifices that we must have to chase our dreams.  



My Office - 4-29-13



Boat Buying in a Virtual World

After going to sailing school, where I was able to live on a 42 foot Fountaine Pajot Catamaran for a week, I have been searching for boats!  There are tons of websites with catamarans for sale, as well as Craigslist.  After drooling over the ads for boats that were out of my price range, I am finally narrowing it down to a couple of boat models.  My budget currently is around $150,000.  This will leave me with enough savings to keep the lights on at home, and finance my cruising costs.  So below is the list of boats that I am looking at:

• PDQ - 36 - 1993-2005 - I like the diesels, but most have 9.9 outboards in a recessed compartment.  The galley is down, not my preference, but the quality of the boats is very high.  It would be a good boat for the Bahamas and the Caribbean, but not necessarily a world circumnavigate boat (not that I plan on that).  The other nice thing is most have never been chartered, and owners normally have taken good care of them.  Currently there are bout 3 or 4 that I have been looking at that are in my budget.
• Lagoon 38 - This is my favorite boat, but I can't find one on this side of the Atlantic that is in my price range.  Still looking.
• Fountaine Pajot - 35-42 - I also like these boats, as they are similar to what I trained on last fall. They are also a little pricey, and short of traveling to France or Greece, I haven't found any on this side of the Atlantic that is in my price range either.  There are some that are older, but they have been driven hard in the charter industry, and it shows.
• Leopard 38 (Robertson and Caine) - 35 - 42 - These are excellent boats, and I am keeping my eye out for one in my price range.



So, that is my list.  I have purposely left out the Gemini catamarans, although I can find a newer one in my price range.  I haven't seen one first hand, but what I have read and discussed with others that have owned them, is that they are better coastal boat, and are a little light weight for liveaboards.  There are people that have taken them on long cruises, as s/v Slapdash circumnavigated on a Gemini 105MC, but it would take some customisation to make it safe.  The main reason for me, was that they only have a single diesel engine, while the other boats on my list have two.  Coming from a world of IT, redundancy is ingrained in my DNA, so having two engines in a requirement for me. 

Currently, I am bookmarking some boats that I have found, but haven't scheduled any trips to see them.  My plan is to wait until May, and then take some 'boat shopping' trips to get serious about finding and purchasing a boat. 

One experience in my virtual buying experience was that I found a nice Fountain Pajot 42 in Indiana.  It was a 2002 and close to my budget!  I was excited, and sent an email to the seller.  I also had to look on the map to see how I would get a catamaran from Indiana to the Bahamas.  It looked like Indiana was on the bank of Lake Michigan, so no problem!  Well, the guy replied back the next day, and let me know that the boat was actually in Indonesia, not Indiana, and he asked if that were a problem!  That boat dropped off of my radar very fast!  I guess the website that had the boat listed probably had the abbreviation for Indiana as 'IN', and this guy thought that it meant Indonesia.  This could be a long search process!

The Hard Reality of Decisions

OK, I will have to admit that this has been a hard year in deciding to take off work and go cruising for a year, or longer.  It always seems so easy when you read the different cruising blogs where they sell everything that they own, buy a boat, and head for the Caribbean.  I know there are thousands of people sitting in their cubicle, dreaming of when they will cut off the shackles of the rat race and the life of excess to take the simpler life of cruising.  It was easy  reading the blogs and enjoying the experiences that each cruiser experienced, seeing the pictures, living the good life, all from the comforts of my office or couch.  One of the real struggles that I have had is that I am getting very little support from my wife and certain friends.  Everyone was pretty supportive until the realization that I would actually leave my work, buy a very expensive boat, and sail away, at least for a year or so.  Don't get me wrong, my wife has encouraged me to follow my dreams, but it isn't a dream that she is interested in sharing, except maybe on a vacation or two.  So yes, there is a feeling of selfishness creeping in, but after working 34+ years in the IT world, I really need a break and I can't think of a better way to accomplish it than cruising for a year.  At this time my older son, Dustin, who turned 30 last year, will go with me.  This is a huge benefit, as we have been on separate paths for the last 12 years, and this will allow us to get back together.  He is also at crossroads with his life, breaking out of the restaurant industry to redefine himself and plan his next phase.  The most surprising support has been my VP here at Walmart.  He seems to understand the need to redefine and take time to do some of the things that you dream about, before other parts of life take them away.  He also took 5 months off, between jobs, to backpack throughout the islands of Indonesia.  He has encourage me to document the trip, so that my teammates back at work can follow along!

So, I am here still waiting on approval for my LOA, and trying to plan how I am going to accomplish this trip and not spend all of my saving, and still support my obligations.  So, the financial part comes into play...Well, I had sold some property back in 2010, and owner financed the whole amount for a 5 year note.  This really has been a win/win for both me and the guy that bought the property, as I am getting a good interest rate, and he is building his dream house on 91 acres.  I was hoping that he would pay me off early, as the intent was that he would be able to pay me off this spring, but it looks like he is running late, and probably will not be able to pay me until either later in the year or next year.  The other large source of funds was my original profit sharing from Walmart.  I have left a large amount of the original profit sharing all in Walmart stock, which I was assuming that I could tap into without penalties once I hit 55 (a one time withdraw).  I would only have to pay the tax on the principle and then long term capital gains on the reminder.  Well, I was informed by the retirement counselor last week that Walmart did not allow any withdrawals from the plan unless it was a hardship case.  He didn't think that funding a catamaran to go cruising fit the bill as a hardship case :).  So, if I get my 12 month LOA, and don't leave the company, I will have to be more creative in funding my cruise!  I do have a large amount of cash saved, but only about half what I need for the boat and the year cruising, so I will have to finance some of this amount with one of my properties that is currently free of debt.  This can be a temporary fix, until I get the money from my sold property, so it isn't a huge deal....but things are getting more complicated! 

So, we continue to wait on our LOA approval, now that our financial crises has been avoided! 

Stay tuned.....